I’ve been friends with Kyle for a few
months, mainly because he has a record that I mastered that will be coming
out on Silber in a couple months. He’s the main force behind San
Francisco’s brooding pop/slowcore band Carta.

QRD – How old were you when you first realized
you wanted to be a professional musician?

Kyle – Probably 30. I don’t know
that I’d consider myself a professional musician now. I played guitar
from a pretty young age, but I was not good at it until I was in my late
20’s, really around the time I went & bought myself a decent electric
guitar. It turns out having a guitar you enjoy playing is very important
to being able to make music; I’d only had a junky broken electric &
a $50 amp before that, & a nylon string classical guitar. Finally
I decided to go buy a telecaster & that was that.

QRD – What are a few highlights of your
musical career?

Kyle – I think finishing our second album.
There were so many times I’d given up this band for dead that I never thought
album number two would be finished, or even started. In between the
first & the second I had a child & I thought “that’s it for music”
in some ways.

QRD – At what age did you decide you wanted
to become a father?

Kyle – In my early 30s. About two
years after I decided to become a musician! I was very opposed to
having a kid before I was about 32 or 33. & it was a good thing,
because if I’d had a child when I was younger I would have been a mess
as a father. You know when it’s the right time for these things,
or hopefully you do.

QRD – What are some positive & negative
impacts your family has had on your career?

Kyle – Having a family enforced a certain
amount of responsibility & emotional stability on me & that has
been good for my music. There is a line of thinking that art of any
merit necessarily needs to come from a place of suffering; I was certainly
an adherent to that for many years. But you can only chase a dragon
for so long before it turns on you. Around the time I finished the
first album (The Glass Bottom Boat), I had a son & played a very terrible
live show when he was about two months old. I just couldn’t handle
being on-stage, surrounded by people, in a bar, etc. That marked
the end of one part of my life & the end of one version of the band.
I didn’t know if I’d put the record out, or play music again. Of
course I did both of those things, but I wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t
had a son & realized that certain aspects of myself were just not going
to do anyone any favors & I had to make some changes & I’m grateful
to my family for helping me realize that. Negative? I can’t
think of any. It’s kind of impossible to tour. Other than that,
nothing.

QRD – What are some positive & negative
impacts your career has had on your family?

Kyle – I’ve been lucky that music really
doesn’t take up an enormous amount of my time now. We have a studio
very nearby where I live, so I’m not traveling long distances for practices.
I’m sure my wife would like me to be around more when I make records, but
we don’t make them that often. & fully three quarters of this
band (me, Sacha, & Gabe) all have children now; four-fifths, if you
include Alex (Kort), our sometimes-cello player. So everyone has
to be very flexible & open minded about how we schedule things.

QRD – Has your child effected the music
you make &/or listen to?

Kyle – There is a song on our next album
called “Hourglass” which I wrote the night my wife told me she was pregnant,
& the new album is dedicated to him & all our children. But
I don’t think it’s, on the whole, terribly child friendly music.
In some respects this version of the band is much heavier than Carta used
to be, it might be the catharsis of getting away from the kids.Ian goes to bed early so I don’t really
listen to loads of music in the house late like I used to. I used
to try to be more picky about the music I played around him, but now I
don’t care that much & neither does he. He’s only three, so he’s
just now starting to express opinions about those things. He knows
who the Beatles are though, good man. & he knows that I play
guitar & that I play music with Sacha (he & Sacha’s daughter are
fast friends). I’m sure he’ll wind up playing music, he shows more
natural ability for it at three than I did at thirteen. Though I
fear he’ll be a drummer.

QRD – Have you had problems with the lack
of steady money from a musical career providing the security you feel necessary
in your household?

Kyle – Music is a side-project for me,
since I hold down a day job. But I recently lost my day job (twice
in three months) & there were times that I threatened to become a full-time
musician. Not in the cards, not with this music. I don’t think
I’ve received a single check from ASCAP, conveniently enough. If
I had more time I would look into licensing songs for films (rather than
giving them away, which I’ve just done, twice). It is depressing
to think that the one thing I can do naturally is never going to put food
on our table, yes. But I used to write fiction. That was more
of a lost cause, I think.

QRD – Given the limitations having a family
has on being a touring musician, would you have toured more earlier in
life if you’d known?

Kyle – Maybe. But this band was not
in a state to tour before I had a kid. & there are so many supplementary
people involved in making my records who I can’t nail down on a full-time
basis, that I’m not sure a touring version of this band would be artistically
faithful to the kind of music I like to produce, you know? But it
would have been fun to have toured a stripped down four piece & finish
every set with a Black Sabbath cover or something, sure. But with
most of the band having children, I don’t know that it will ever be possible.
On a limited, coastal basis, probably.

QRD – Do you think being a father or a
musician has a greater impact on your community?

Kyle – Being a father, certainly.
Most of my community are family people now. Even most of the musicians
I used to know are family people now. I feel very detached from the
younger scene out here & not in a bad way.

QRD – Would you rather see your child eventually
become a musician or parent?

Kyle – I hope my child will become a doctor
or a lawyer like everyone else, so he can pay to take care of his broke
dad!

QRD – Both family & music seem like
things that will take up as much of your time as you’re willing to put
in. How do you end up dividing your time?

Kyle – I’m a father 99.9% of the time.
I carefully schedule out the time I spend away; we only practice nights
after the kids are in bed, for instance.

QRD – What do your kids think of your music?

Kyle – I’m not sure Ian cares much about
my music, I don’t actually play it around him very much! Ian likes
weird things. He sings “Womanizer” in the car. He doesn’t like
sad music. & most of everything I write sounds sad, so no Carta
at home. I played him some stuff from the new record & said,
“This is me & Sacha,” & he said it was “scary.” Rightly so.

QRD – Do you think you could ever do a
musical project with your child?

Kyle – When he’s older, yes! &
I hope to embarrass him as much as I possibly can while doing it.

QRD – Any words of advice to young people?

Kyle – Don’t blow up your worries into
insurmountable issues, there is plenty of time for problems when you are
an adult. Enjoy your endless days.